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About 85 weather, climate and water experts from around the world are meeting for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 13th Education and Training Symposium (SYMET-XIII) to focus on improving the capacity of hydro-meteorological services internationally to address global challenges such extreme weather and long-term climate change.

The UN Climate Summit brought together 100 Heads of State and Government, along with chief executives from the financial world, business and civil societies to give new momentum to the search for answers to the challenges posed by climate change.

At international, national and local levels, there is a drive to improve access for women to technology, information, science education and technical training and to strengthen the position of women scientists and technologists. Ensuring that women have equal access to science education and technology is an essential catalyst to ensure that the developers and users of weather, water and climate services provided by WMO and its Members serve the global community – men, women, boys, girls.

The project supports the enhancement of capabilities of the national hydro-meteorological services of WMO Members, through the Education and Training Programme and the Fellowships it coordinates. Its purpose is to...

High costs and relatively low usage are major concerns for operational meteorological satellite systems. In the early 1990s, Tillman Mohr, then Director General of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), made a rough calculation that the operational cost of the constellation of meteorological satellites was in the order of US$ 2 million per day. However, a WMO survey conducted around the same time determined that many of its Members were not able to access and use satellite data and products in real time and were, thus, not able to reap the...

Competency frameworks will be introduced into the WMO Technical Regulations, which define standards and recommended practices for services and for taking observations and creating, sharing and accessing meteorological, climatologic and hydrological data. Institutions supplying education and training opportunities to the personnel of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services are also encouraged to adjust their training courses and programmes to better support the competency frameworks.